Russia-Ukraine updates: 2 US veterans who joined Ukrainian forces missing

The Americans, Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh and Alexander Drueke, are both from Alabama.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered "stiff resistance," according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military has since launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine's disputed Donbas region, capturing the strategic port city of Mariupol and securing a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

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Two Men at War

A look at the two leaders at the center of the war in Ukraine and how they both rose to power, the difference in their leadership and what led to this moment in history.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
May 06, 2022, 6:47 PM EDT

Biden announces new security assistance package

The U.S. has announced another package of security assistance that will provide "additional artillery munitions, radars, and other equipment to Ukraine," according to a Friday afternoon statement from President Joe Biden.

The U.S. will provide up to $150 million in new security assistance for Ukraine, according to a memorandum from Biden.

"With today’s announcement, my Administration has nearly exhausted funding that can be used to send security assistance through drawdown authorities for Ukraine," Biden said in the statement. "For Ukraine to succeed in this next phase of war its international partners, including the U.S., must continue to demonstrate our unity and our resolve to keep the weapons and ammunition flowing to Ukraine, without interruption. Congress should quickly provide the requested funding to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table."

Ukrainian military personnel inspect the site of a missile strike in front of a damaged residential building, amid Russia's invasion, in Dobropillia, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, April 30, 2022.
Jorge Silva/Reuters

The package includes 25,000 155mm artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars, electronic jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts, according to Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.

"Capabilities in this package are tailored to meet critical Ukrainian needs for today's fight as Russian forces continue their offensive in eastern Ukraine," Kirby said in a statement.

This marks the ninth drawdown of equipment from Department of Defense inventories for Ukraine since August 2021, according to Kirby.

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

May 06, 2022, 4:11 PM EDT

UNSC adopts resolution supporting 'peaceful solution' in Ukraine

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a statement voicing "deep concern regarding the maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine," the first such message issued by the body since the war began.

The statement reminds all U.N. members of their responsibility to “settle their international disputes by peaceful means” and express “support of the efforts of the Secretary-General in the search for a peaceful solution.”

PHOTO: A nurse checks the wounds of Ponomareva Natalia Sergiivna, 41, three days after her family's home was shelled by Russian forces in their frontline village of Vysokopilla in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine on May 05, 2022.
A nurse checks the wounds of Ponomareva Natalia Sergiivna, 41, three days after her home was shelled by Russian forces in their frontline village of Vysokopilla in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, May 05, 2022. Her family escaped under fire to a Ukrainian army checkpoint then transported to a hospital. Her daughter, 5, was seriously injured and just released from the intensive care unit of another hospital. The central Ukrainian city and district of Kryvyi Rih, an industrial center and the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky, is less than 70km north of Russian-occupied areas.
John Moore/Getty Images

The text was drafted by envoys from Norway and Mexico and was agreed upon by all members of the council, including Russia.

The permanent representative from Mexico, Juan Ramón de la Fuente, said it demonstrated all members of the Security Council were “united” in the pursuit of “diplomatic resolution,” although he acknowledged it took over two months to reach this point.

Pressed on whether he thought Russia was earnestly seeking a peaceful end to the war, Ramón de la Fuente said the country demonstrated “a willingness to move in that direction.”

The bodies of four people who died during the Russian occupation await burial in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, April 20, 2022. Amnesty International said Friday, May 6, 2022, it has documented extensive war crimes by Russian forces around Kyiv,
The bodies of four people who died during the Russian occupation await burial during in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, April 20, 2022. Amnesty International said Friday, May 6, 2022, it has documented extensive war crimes by Russian forces in communities around the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, including arbitrary executions, bombardments of residences and torture.
Emilio Morenatti/AP, FILE

However, the UNSC’s statement is already drawing criticism from those who say it fails to hold Russia accountable for the violence.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement: "I welcome this support and will continue to spare no effort to save lives, reduce suffering and find the path of peace."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

May 06, 2022, 1:30 PM EDT

Zelenskyy to join Biden, German chancellor in G-7 virtual leaders meeting

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will join President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a G-7 virtual leaders meeting on Sunday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

Psaki noted that imposing new sanctions on Russia may also be discussed during the meeting.

“They will discuss the latest developments in Russia's war against Ukraine, the global impact of Putin's war, showing support for Ukraine and Ukraine's future and demonstrating continued G7 unity in our collective response, including building on our unprecedented sanctions to impose severe costs for Putin’s war,” she said.

Destroyed trams are seen in a depot during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 5, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

A Ukrainian deminer carries unexploded material at an airport in the town of Hostomel, northwestern of Kyiv, on May 5, 2022.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

The meeting will happen the day before Russia’s “Victory Day,” a celebration of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany. Western officials have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin may ramp up his attacks on Ukraine in the lead up to the day and may want to claim a new victory.

Psaki hinted the administration was intentional about meeting before that day.

“I think it should not be lost the significance or --on anyone the significance of when the timeline when his -- when this G-7 meeting is happening, which is the day before Russia's Victory Day, which President Putin has certainly projected his desire to mark that day as a day where he is victorious over Ukraine. Of course, he's not," she said.

-ABC News' Armando Tonatiuh Torres-García

May 06, 2022, 1:18 PM EDT

US shared intel with Ukraine that helped sink Russian flagship Moskva last month, officials say

The U.S. shared intelligence with Ukraine that helped it sink the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva, last month, according to two U.S. officials.

The Ukrainians, who have their own intelligence capabilities, had tracked the Moskva independently, though, and the U.S. did not provide "specific targeting information," according to one of the officials.

"We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians’ decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Thursday. "We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine’s intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case."

PHOTO: (FILES) This file photo taken on August 29, 2013 shows the Moskva, missile cruiser flagship of Russian Black Sea Fleet, entering Sevastopol bay.
(FILES) This file photo taken on August 29, 2013 shows the Moskva, missile cruiser flagship of Russian Black Sea Fleet, entering Sevastopol bay. - Russia's Moskva warship was hit by two Ukrainian missiles before it sank in the Black Sea, a senior Pentagon official said Friday, calling it a "big blow" for Moscow.
Vasiliy Batanov/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. official also noted that: “We do provide a range of intelligence to help the Ukrainians understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea and to help them prepare to defend against potential sea-based assaults. Many of the missiles fired at Ukraine have come from Russian ships in the Black Sea, and those ships could be used to support an assault on cities like Odesa.”

NBC News first reported this intel.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday downplayed the role of U.S intelligence.

"We did not provide Ukraine with specific targeting information for the Moskva. We were not involved in the Ukrainians’ decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out. We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's intent to target the ship," she said. "The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case. And I’ve discussed this with both our national security adviser and the President and the view is that, one, this is an inaccurate over-claiming of our role and an under-claiming of the role of the Ukrainians who frankly have a greater level of intelligence and access to intelligence than we do."

Still, she said that the U.S. is providing Ukraine with a range of intelligence, which they can use in conjunction with their own findings.

"We do provide a range of intelligence to help them understand the threat posed by Russian ships in the Black Sea and to help them prepare to defend themselves against potential sea-based assaults, but they take our intelligence and they combine that with what they have access to. And so on this specific report, it's just not an accurate depiction of how this happened," she added.

-ABC News' Ben Gittleson and Molly Nagle

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